STATEMENT ON MISSING VERSES IN BIBLE TRANSLATION

Dear Friends of the Bible Society,

The past few days, the social media has been flooded with a post warning every
Bible user about how some Bible publishers abroad have deliberately omitted
certain passages from the Bible. Although the trending post singled out English
translations that were not published by the Philippine Bible Society (PBS), we, the
PBS leadership, deem it a service to the Bible-reading communities and
individuals in the Philippines to give our comments on the issue.
First of all, PBS believes that the Bible is the written Word of God. Because the
Bible is the Word of God, PBS is committed to translate and transmit faithfully the
very same Bible that the biblical writers inscribed on their manuscripts. PBS
exists to serve the Scripture requirements of the churches in the Philippines.
This fidelity to the Word of God as transmitted from the time of the early
Christians is guided by our deep love for God and His Word. However, since the
original biblical manuscripts no longer exist, the safest way to ensure the
transmission purity of the Bible is to carefully and critically study surviving
biblical manuscripts. These biblical manuscripts now number to thousands. (In
the New Testament alone there are 7,584 surviving manuscripts as of November
2013). In this regard, PBS relies heavily on the results of scholarly labor from
individuals and institutions that have devoted their entire lives in making sure that
the best textual bases for modern translations are founded on the most reliable
manuscript attestation. (These specialist scholars are called textual critics and
their field as textual criticism).
Accordingly, when PBS undertakes translation projects, we use the latest editions
of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (for the Old Testament) and the United Bible
Societies Greek New Testament (for the New Testament) as textual bases for our
projects. These two critical editions have the broadest scholarly support to date.
And it is important to point out that the bases for textual decisions are the Hebrew
and Greek texts, not English translations.

It happens that some verses of the Bible are not included in the main text of the
Bible, but are only mentioned in the footnote. Some of these passages include
Matt 17.21, 23.14, Mark 9.44, 9.46, Luke 17.36, 23.17, John 5.4 and Acts 8.37. In
the said verses, there is a broad concurrence among textual scholars to reflect in
the main text the readings supported by the most reliable manuscripts, and to print
these disputed passages at the margins, or also in the main text but marked with
some symbols (for instance, a bracket [ ]) to indicate that the passage is disputed.
The inclusion or exclusion of a verse/s or portions of a verse in the main text are a
major decision of the translation team, guided by the standard publishing policies
and principles of the organization, as well as by the long history of Bible
publishing and production.
Relegating a verse to a footnote is a major
consideration because the Bible users always expect a Bible with complete verses.
It is necessary, therefore, to apply sound principles in textual criticism to assure
Bible users that their Bibles are reliable.
Such care and expertise is achieved in the major English translations that include
the supposedly missing verses in the footnote rather than in the main text. PBS
follows the same publishing convention. However, it must be emphasized that the
intention of PBS in adopting this practice is not to alter the Word of God but to
ensure that the copy of the Bible we offer to the Church reflects nothing but the
best scholarship there is at the moment.
The Magandang Balita Biblia (MBB), which is published by the Philippine Bible
Society, includes the said verses in the main text but they are enclosed in square
brackets and are mentioned in the footnote. The use of brackets tells the Bible
user that the verses are not found in the ancient and most reliable manuscripts.
It is our hope that we will continue to value the Bible, the Word of God, for our
daily spiritual nourishment. Should you have further questions or comments,
please do not hesitate to inform us. We pray that the Bible will continue to make
an impact in the lives of our people, so that the Philippines will remain under the
guiding light of God and His Word. The Lord be praised!

Philippine Bible Society Board of Trustees and Management